Inhaling, I sweep my arms up overhead, my gaze following my fingertips. As I bow toward the earth, I notice the first rays of sun peaking over the tops of the trees.
I flow.
On my next pass, arms reaching high, the sun is making himself known, rising from his slumber as I awaken from mine. Hues of orange, pink and yellow dance outside of my window.
Flow.
I step my right foot between my hands and rise, like the sun, sinking deep into my hips as I reach into a Crescent Lunge. My eyes are drawn again to the rising sun.
Crawling out of bed in the morning and rolling out my yoga mat is one of the best gifts I have ever given myself. Moving through surya namaskar, or sun salutations, awakens my body and my mind, just as the world awakes around me. The sheer beauty of the Lowcountry awakens my soul. I love yoga.
This practice has changed me. Slower to anger, quicker to lend a hand, I am also more present, more aware. I take the time to notice the nest of cardinals near my porch, and the baby woodpeckers in the tree in the front yard. I am experiencing life, and not witnessing it.
So many of us get caught up in the grind. We have to be there, we have to do this and that. We forget in the midst of our busyness to take the moment we are living in and feel it. We are not present.
Yoga helps us reach inside and find the NOW. We begin to realize that where we need to be is HERE, and that this breath, this moment is the one we need to experience.
I am just as guilty as the rest of you for pulling out my iPhone and checking in on Facebook. I tweet my location and my activities, and tell you what I had for dinner. All of these things are indicative of our times. Though these social media icons have helped us extend our reach and reconnect with old friends, we have to remember that these media are not true connections. The real connection, the now, is in your home and outside your front door.
While we document our lives through social media, we need to remember to actually live the experience. We need to be present.
Allow yoga to enliven your life experiences. Learn to breathe, to experience, and to feel. The time is now.
